Titans offensive tackle Taylor Lewan (77) reacts as he walks off the field after the team's 34-17 loss to the Texans at NRG Stadium Monday, Nov. 26, 2018, in Houston, Texas. George Walker IV / Tennessean.com

Titans offensive tackle Taylor Lewan (77) is checked out by medical staff after being injured in the third quarter against the Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium Sunday, Sept. 9, 2018, in Miami Gardens, Fla. George Walker IV / The Tennessean

Titans offensive tackle Taylor Lewan (77) pats quarterback Marcus Mariota (8) on the shoulder after he threw a touchdown with less than one minute left on the clock in the fourth quarter at Nissan Stadium on Sunday, November 12, 2017 in Nashville, Tenn. Tom Stanford / Tennessean.com

Titans offensive tackle Taylor Lewan (77) walks off the field after a play in the first quarter against the Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium Sunday, Oct. 8, 2017 in Miami Gardens, Fla. George Walker IV / Tennessean.com

Titans tackle Taylor Lewan (77) gestures to the referees after being ejected early in the first quarter against the Packers at Nissan Stadium Sunday, Nov. 13, 2016, in Nashville, Tenn. George Walker IV / The Tennessean

Titans tackle Taylor Lewan (77) leaves the field after the team's loss to the Colts at Nissan Stadium Sunday, Oct. 23, 2016, in Nashville, Tenn. He was ejected from the Titans' game against Green Bay. George Walker IV / The Tennessean

Titans offensive guard Quinton Spain (67) is comforted by Titans tackle Taylor Lewan (77) before being carried off the field in the second quarter at Nissan Stadium Sunday, Oct. 23, 2016, in Nashville, Tenn. Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean

And he’d probably react to that sentence with a sneer, so the impulse to designate Lewan as anything but an enigmatic third-year lineman is perhaps rash. But his potential as a player — and a leader, with what you might call a “non-traditional” approach — is obvious.

“He's probably in the best shape of any lineman I've been around,” Titans coach Mike Mularkey said of Lewan, possibly the boldest statement given by anyone in the past few weeks. “He can run all day. He covers on every play, (then) back in the huddle. It's obvious he's been working at it. That's a lot of maturity I'm seeing.”

The Titans drafted Jack Conklin No. 8, but the Michigan State left tackle has been purely a right tackle with the Titans. The best-case scenario was always Lewan solidifying himself on the left side — the only side he has played — while Conklin adjusted to the right side.

Meanwhile, new offensive line coach Russ Grimm has chopped down on the terminology and simplified some of the Titans’ protection schemes. The balance between keeping things simple and having enough answers for all the pressures an offensive line will encounter isn’t easy to find, but Lewan said this change “makes us a faster team.”

And it’s probably good for young players. Conklin has “quietly done his job,” Mularkey said, getting more early reps with the ones because of a dislocated ankle suffered by Byron Bell.

Lewan has not quietly done his job. He’ll never quietly do his job. He’s the loudest guy on the field.

That means a lot of trash talk, too, and too much emotion on the field has hurt Lewan in the past. Mularkey cited a relative lack of experience when he stripped Lewan of his captain status late last season, but that probably doesn’t happen if Lewan is conducting himself like a captain.

That can’t be easy on a losing team going through a head coaching change. It’s also not easy to lead a team if you aren’t one of its best players.

Now Lewan is earning credit for his leadership. And he insists he’s not going out of his way to be a “rah-rah” guy.

Tennessee Titans guard Chance Warmack (70) and tackle Taylor Lewan (77) walk off the field after a practice earlier this month.(Photo: Mark Zaleski / For the Tennessean)

“We’re not in high school,” Lewan said. “We’re all paid to do this job. I don’t need to sit here and openly criticize guys on the field, that’s not my job. My job is to play left tackle. And my job is to play left tackle to the best of my abilities and do my part for this team to win.”

All true. Yet NFL coaches seem to value vocal leadership in the locker room as much as college coaches do.

Of course it’s different when a wide age range and large salaries are involved, but the great teams have strong personalities and accountability within their locker rooms.

And every team needs guys who are comfortable talking to anyone, who can joke around and make things light, yet demonstrate what it means to be prepared and professional. Lewan is naturally the first part of that, and he might be figuring out how to be all of it.